The opening brings this right into the lives of Artie, Leech, and Wiz-Kid. Harness and Piecemeal arrive at their school with the Alliance of Evil, and the children trying to int…

The opening brings this right into the lives of Artie, Leech, and Wiz-Kid. Harness and Piecemeal arrive at their school with the Alliance of Evil, and the children trying to intervene get hurt. That gives Cable's team a reason to start following the attacks before they understand the larger plan. They eventually run into the New Warriors at Genetech. There's a fight between the teams before they work out that they're being drawn into the same situation. Once they cooperate, they divide up the investigation and start connecting the corporate fronts, the energy collection, and the research. The trail leads them back to information associated with Muir Island and Proteus. That brings Moira into it, along with the people around her. The story already shows the Shadow King's influence on that group, so even going to the person who knows Proteus best comes with complications. In Edinburgh, the heroes split their attention between fighting Harness and helping Gilbert. They try to remove the accumulated energy, but they can't stop what's happening. His body reaches its limit, and Proteus re-emerges through him. Gilbert doesn't simply disappear from the story at that moment. His consciousness combines with Kevin MacTaggert's. The new being is carrying both of them, including Gilbert's experiences with Harness and Kevin's experiences with Moira. That's why it recognizes both women as its mothers.